Tighter gov't control over meat importation sought

MANILA, Philippines - Leaders of the hog and poultry industry asked Congress yesterday to tighten government controls over the importation of offal and other meat products to avert the industry’s collapse.

Speaking at the House of Representatives special committee on food security, Rosendo So, Swine Development Council director, said the hog and poultry industry had incurred losses amounting to P28.5 billion in the last three years.

“Therefore, there was an anomalous discrepancy, unexplained volume of illegal importation of offal last year amounting to 73,743,411 kilos,” he said.

So said the rampant smuggling of pork, chicken and other meat products is threatening the survival and livelihood of at least 7 million backyard hog farmers and workers in allied industries.

The tiered tariff scheme is being used to smuggle meat products, he added.

So sought the increase of tariff for swine liver and edible offal to 35 percent from five to 10 percent.

Government and international trade data will show a huge discrepancy of more than 73 million kilograms of imported offal, he added.

So said UN Record Partner Exports to the Philippines pegged the offal’s importation at 41,301,427 kilos, while the Bureau of Animal Industry recorded only 115,044,838 kilos.

“If indeed these were all offal, where did these all go when the data showed the largest processors of meat products imported the least of this said volume, while the smallest, least-known traders top the list of importing most of the said volume?” he said.

So said government records showed imported Canadian swine edible offal entered the country at $0.59 per kilogram, but the UN COMTRADE records will show that Canada declared the value at $1.19 per kilogram.

“These notwithstanding, government records will show that a huge volume of prime pork imports last year were declared with values at less than $1 or the same as in the vicinity of the declared value of offal when the real value of prime pork, according to verifiable international data, was hitting at nearly $2 per kilogram,” he said.

So said these factors can substantiate and justify the prudence of increasing the tariff of offal to 35 percent.

“It will not only increase government’s tax revenues but also plug the loophole for the misdeclaration of offal under the current regime,” he said.

“We are certain that a 35 percent tariff on offal, even if it’s meant for processing, will not hurt the processors given that offal has always been priced the lowest by exporters.”

So proposed that the government set up a system of accreditation of traders and processors to regulate and restrict the importation of swine liver.

“We want to state clearly that this is not in restraint of trade, as importers may want to assail it categorically,” he said.

“In fact, some regional economies, more particularly in Thailand, governments will first seek the approval of their local livestock industry before a proposed volume of imports could proceed.”

So said the government must regularly give an authenticated copy of the inward foreign manifest of all livestock imports to the lawful representatives of the local industry as certified by the Department of Agriculture.

The government trade negotiator must consult with the affected domestic livestock industries before negotiating and submit to Congress a periodic report on the status of negotiations, he added